Identification and Prioritization the Information Needs of Families Who Had Children with Cancer

The purpose of this study was to identify and prioritize the information needs of families who had children with cancer.

The present study was an applied survey and its statistical population included all 729 cancer-causing families referred to Isfahan seyyed-Al- shohada Hospital (Omid) in 1397. Based on the formula for determining the size of Cochran sample, 244 families were selected through voluntary and purposive nonprobability sampling based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire containing 15 demographic questionnaires and 4 factors with 48 items about the information needs of Families Who Had Children with Cancer. The face and content validity of the questionnaire was determined and its reliability was obtained through Cronbach's alpha of 0.96.

The findings showed the factor "social, economic and spiritual support" was the first priority, the factors "provision of cancer information by the health care provider" and "health and counseling facilities and services" were the second priority and the factor "access, presentation, and exchange of related health information" was the last priority.

Regular assessment of information needs of parents can help health care providers to provide the information they need to reduce the stress and anxiety of families and their greater participation in childcare and ultimately reduce their health care costs and health care.